New spirit in West Indies team

TONY BECCA ON THE BOUNDARY

The contest between the West Indies and Pakistan ended in St Kitts last Tuesday with, not surprisingly, the West Indies winning one of the two Test matches and Pakistan one.

In Guyana, on a pitch which was a bowler's best friend from start to finish, a pitch which saw the spin bowlers wearing a smile after each delivery and one on which Saeed Ajmal, with his 'doosra', preened himself with 11 wickets, one on which only one batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq, passed 50 and only one innings passed 200, the West Indies squeezed home by 40 runs.

In St Kitts, on a pitch that was expected to be a batsman's paradise, a pitch where runs would flow freely and wickets would come at a price, Pakistan, after starting at 24 for three in the first 12 overs, beat the West Indies by 196 runs with Taufeeq Umar, 135, and captain Misbah-ul-Haq, 102 not out, stroking second innings centuries as spinners Ajmal and left-hander Abdur Rehman, and opening batsman Mohammed Hafeez with his off-spin and his 'doosra', enjoyed themselves.

At the end of the contest, Pakistan were left still waiting for their first series win in the West Indies, mainly because their batting, which, like the West Indies and but for Taufeeq, Misbah and the free-spirited Umar Akmal, who hinted of some quality with a few useful scores, was inexperienced or simply not up to the standard.

Non-performance

While the batsmen, on both teams, could be excused for their non-performance in Guyana, it is very difficult to offer any excuse for what took place in St Kitts.

The West Indies batsmen simply did not know how to play the 'doosra' and Ajmal and Hafeez are two of the best exponents of the art, anywhere in the world.

The fielding, on both teams, on the ground and in the air, was sporadic. On some days they were brilliant, on other days they were terrible.

Pakistan lost the first Test mainly because their fielding was atrocious and the West Indies lost the second Test because their fielding was just as bad as Pakistan's in the first Test match.

While the quality of play was not great, especially the batting, and, but for Ravi Rampaul, the fast bowling on both sides, the action was exciting, mainly due to Rampaul and right-arm leg-spinner, Devendra Bishoo, in both batting and bowling.

After a disappointing first few Test matches, Rampaul impressed with both the ball and the bat.

In the first Test, Rampaul bowled beautifully to finish with three for 27 off seven overs in the first innings and, after sending Pakistan reeling on two runs for three wickets in the second innings by grabbing two quick wickets, he bowled the West Indies to victory with four for 48 in 21 overs.

In the second Test, he returned figures of three for 68 off 26 overs, including the first three for eight off seven overs, and one for 87 off 24.2 overs.

Bishoo was not as successful as Rampaul, but his four for 68 off 25 overs in the first Test - in his first Test innings - suggested an outstanding career to come.

Impressive move

Apart from the bowling of Rampaul and Bishoo, the only impressive thing about the West Indies performance - a performance in which the two highest innings came from Marlon Samuels, 57, and Dwayne Bravo, 50 - was the fighting spirit of the team and more so that of the tail-enders.

Kemar Roach did not bowl well, but time and time again the tail-enders turned up trumps, adding valuable runs to the total. In fact, the first Test was won only after Shivnarine Chanderpaul, batting at number five and scoring 36 not out, shared a last-wicket partnership of 48 with Bishoo, who chipped in with 24.

The West Indies, at the coming of Bishoo at number 11, were 104 for nine in their second innings, they made 152, they led by 218, they dismissed Pakistan for 178, and they won by 40 runs.

The West Indies, even with the pitch in Guyana, did not bat well and they only fielded well at times. Led by Rampaul, Bishoo and captain Daren Sammy, however, they bowled reasonably well, albeit against a weak batting team.

With Roach scoring 24, 29 and 12, Rampaul scoring 14, 24, 32 not out and 20, and Bishoo chipping in with 15 not out, 24, one and three not out, however, the West Indies showed a new fighting spirit in winning their first Test match since Jerome Taylor ripped through England at Sabina Park in February 2009.